High Court has ruled that the teacher who was arrested and charged with grooming school children, and engaging in inappropriate conversation with them was released from custody wrongfully.
High Court has ruled that the teacher who was arrested and charged with grooming school children, and engaging in inappropriate conversation with them was released from custody wrongfully.
The magistrate court of the island where the incident occurred released the teacher from custody claiming the individual poses no threat to society.
The magistrate who issued the release order self-delivered the summons chit to Maldives Police Service, which is unusual.
The ruling by the Magistrate Court was then appealed at the High Court, with the High Court ruling that there are special provisions in the law to act against persons accused of sexual harassment of children, and this is because they are a threat to society.
The ruling said that a lack of prior allegations against the teacher is no indication that there is protection for children from the currently accused crime. They further said that documents submitted by the Police show that the teacher's daily life is not in a manner that would protect children.
The three judge bench ruled that the conditional release of the man is wrongful. They ordered the teacher be held in remand in custody for a period of seven days while the Magistrate Court reviews their decision.
The High Court order indicates that;
- The accused is a primary grade teacher at a school
- Evidence has been submitted with allegations that sexual acts were committed against male minors studying at the school
- A high number of students had been groomed
- Many interactions involving sexual content was shared with a number of students, with photos of M-Pox shared with one
In order to protect the identities of children involved, it is against the law to reveal any information which may reveal their identities, due to which Police did not disclose further details.
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